A Bowl Of Soup

A

Bowl

Of

SOUP

 

 Simplicity itself. No? A simple bowl of soup for dinner

And Yet

Of all the things I cook for our meals, the 'simple bowl of soup' may be one of the most complicated processes.

We start

Flavor Base One

 

 Tomato Paste & Anchovy Fillets (You won't taste the anchovy. It just gives a depth of flavor)

 You start them in cold oil, turn on the heat, and let them caramelize a bit. The anchovy dissolves 

 

 Flavor Base Two

Onions, Carrots, Celery, Garlic

 

 I shred them (except the garlic) instead of chopping. I fell into this technique during one of my Ghana trips when I was making tomato sauce and was short of time. Shredding the aromatics, allow them to give up their flavor faster as the cell membranes are broken better. And they disintegrate better in the final product

 Into the flavored oil

 

 Our meat is Italian Sausage

 

 Bwahahaha - no MSG. Too bad. I'm adding it anyway

"And if I'm not happy, it's on us?" What do they do? Some perverted seance naked slathered in  sausage?

Into the aromatics

 

 Now make the broth (shortcut style)

 

 Flavor base with water

Then add the herbs and seasonings

 

In this case we have salt, black, white, and cayenne pepper (lightly all), thyme, savory, oregano and MSG!

 

Now the vegetables

 

I am usually making soup because I have stuff in the fridge that needs using up. In this case, I had a big head of Napa Cabbage, and a head of Escarole.

 

 

Into the soup

 

 

Add some rice and beans for body and more protein

 

 

Have a leftover rind of Parmesan? Good additional flavoring

 

 

Let cook for about 40 minutes adding water so it is the right consistency for your taste as necessary

 

 

 

Et Voila!

 

 

A simple bowl of soup